


Fairy-Tale Ending

by glorious_spoon



Series: Tumblr Prompt Fic [10]
Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Awkwardness, F/M, Pre-Relationship, Relationship Negotiation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-20
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2019-04-25 10:44:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14376999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glorious_spoon/pseuds/glorious_spoon
Summary: Peggy and Daniel find themselves in an arranged marriage and Peggy is less than delighted about it.





	Fairy-Tale Ending

**Author's Note:**

> For a tumblr prompt by lilianmalter:
> 
> _Our marriage was arranged, and I’ve admired you from afar for years, so I’m thrilled, but you are decided less than thrilled, so where does this leave us? For agent Carter_
> 
> ...please don't look too hard for logic in this, as there is none. Originally posted [here](http://glorious-spoon.tumblr.com/post/173127749261/our-marriage-was-arranged-and-ive-admired-you).

“I’d like to make a few things clear immediately,” Margaret Carter said briskly, settling a bulky manila folder down on the table in front of her with a thump. She was, if possible, even more staggeringly beautiful up close. Her pale skin was flawless, her lips the color of blood, her gleaming dark hair pinned up immaculately. Daniel swallowed and sat back in his chair as she continued. He could smell the faint sweetness of her perfume. “I’m aware that it’s quite common for misunderstandings to arise in circumstances like ours, and I thought that we ought to avoid that.”

She paused, like she was waiting for an answer, and Daniel cleared his throat. Admiring Miss Carter from afar was one thing, and yeah, okay, he’d cop to a little thrill when her name was the one pulled for him, but sitting this close to her, having all that fierce attention directed at him, was more than a little like being a bug on a pin. He felt uncomfortably exposed, like his schoolboy crush was written across his face for all the world to see. “Uh, yeah. Sounds like a good idea.”

“Excellent.” Her businesslike smile turned just a shade more genuine. “To be quite honest, I find this whole business distasteful.”

Daniel wasn’t quite sure what his face was doing in reaction to that. The words felt like a punch in the gut, but not an unexpected one. What kind of woman–especially a beautiful, brilliant, fearless woman like Miss Carter–would want to be paired off with someone like him?

No use letting the confirmation of what he already knew get to him. He was used to it. Had been forced to get used to it over the agonizing weeks and months of recovery. “Right.”

“Nothing personal,” she added, belatedly, so maybe he hadn’t pulled his reaction as well as he thought. Maybe she was just more observant than he gave her credit for. “I’m sure you’re a lovely man. But I don’t want to be married, and I certainly don’t want to be married to someone with whom I’ve barely exchanged greetings.”

Another expectant pause. He cleared his throat again. “I guess we could, uh, get to know each other?”

“We could,” she agreed. One manicured red nail tapped the file in front of her. “But I want to make it clear from the get-go that I have no intention of giving up a career I’ve worked very hard at to stay at home and keep house for you. If that’s unacceptable, we can start the annulment process now.”

Yeah, the annulment process that would eat up every last bit of his dad’s savings and leave them both pariahs. Not likely. Somehow, it didn’t surprise him at all that Margaret Carter thought that was even on the table. The woman looked like she’d try to glare a Shermer tank into submission. And succeed, too. “Shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Excellent. And I understand that your prospects aren’t bad.”

“Uh.” He rubbed the back of his head. “I’ve just been transferred to the California branch of the SSR.”

“The SSR,” she repeated blankly. It was the first time since this bizarre confrontation had started that he’d seen her look the least bit wrong-footed. “You’re an SSR agent. My mother told me you worked in government.”

“I do. Um. In a manner of speaking.” He cut a glance up to her face, but her expression was completely unreadable. “So I guess we’ll be working together.”

The silence stretched out for several long, uncomfortable moments, and then her shoulders started to shake. Daniel reached for his crutch to stand, alarmed, as she lifted a hand to her mouth. “Oh, my goodness,” she said, and he realized that the shaking wasn’t from tears but from barely contained laughter. “I am going to  _kill_  her. Of all the sneaky, underhanded—I really thought she was trying to make me settle down.”

“I feel like I should probably discourage you from committing homicide,” Daniel managed weakly, feeling as though his world had been turned on its head for the second time today. If Miss Carter had been beautiful before, from a distance, it was nothing on her laughing from the other side of the table, her cheeks flushed, eyes sparkling. She was magnetic, even if he didn’t have the faintest clue what was going on. “Considering that we’re both federal agents.”

That set off another peal of laughter. She pressed her hand to her mouth, then reached across the table to offer it to him. “I’m sorry, I think we might have got off on the wrong foot, Mr. Sousa. Or is it Agent Sousa?”

“Daniel,” he said, before he could think better of it. “Please.”

“Daniel.” Her smile was dazzling. “Then you should call me Peggy. I think we can manage to come to an understanding, don’t you?”

He had a feeling that understanding wasn’t going to look much like the romantic flicks his mom always used to take him to when he was a kid. No fairy-tale wedding, for sure. No swooning kiss at the end of it, either, from the looks of things. But Daniel had come back from the war pretty damn disillusioned about all of that, and Peggy Carter was laughing on the other side of the table, her fingers still pressed against his, the annulment papers forgotten, and yeah, he thought. Yeah, they could do this. “You know what, Peggy, I think we can.”


End file.
